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Combine a 400mm full-frame prime lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/2.8 and there are two things you can be assured of – size and weight. The mighty Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USMmeasures a whopping 163 x 343mm (484mm long with the lens hood fitted) and tips the scales at 3.85kg.

It's supplied in its own custom-made hard case that, in itself, exceeds the maximum carry-on size for most airlines. Indeed, you don't fit this lens to your camera, you fit the camera to the lens. But sometimes, big really is beautiful.

Mode 1 stabilises the image full-time, so you can view the effect through the viewfinder when composing shots. Mode 2 is for panning with the camera in either portrait or landscape orientation. Mode 3 only applies stabilisation when the shot is actually taken, and works really well when you're tracking erratically moving objects.

Rounding out the feature set on this high-end camera lens, currently selling for around £8,880, are four AF stop buttons placed at 90-degree increments around the circumference of the lens, towards its front.

If you're not happy with their placement, you can pay to have the ring that houses them rotated by a Canon service centre.

There's also a Kensington lock attachment for securing the lens, a beefy tripod mount and somewhat enormous lens hood.